Station-indicator.



PATENTBD MAR. 24, 1904's.

E..G. SCHWARZ. STATION INDIGATOR. -APPLIoAToN FILED 00131, 1902.

io MODEL.

F @A L T.

TH: MORRIS PETERS co. mouufno., WASNINGTUN, D. c.

NITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

ERNEST G. SCHWARZ, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STATION-IN DiCAToR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 723,739, dated March24, 1903.

Application led 0ctober`3l, 1902. Serial No. 129,620. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.:

Be it known that I, ERNESTG. SCHWARZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of New York, in the borough of Manhattan and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStation-Indicators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention is an indicating device especially adapted for indicatingstations or streets on railways, although it may be used for any purposewhere it is desired to show at intervals various signs, characters,pictures, or information of any kind.

The invention involves 'a pair of rollers which carrya web upon whichare the signs or pictures to be exhibited, a motor, and suitable clutchandtripping mechanism for moving the web step by step in a givendirection and for reversing the movement at any time desired.

The invention will be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan or face View of theapparatus with parts broken away and partsv in section. Fig. 2 is an endelevation ot' the device, showing the mechanism on both ends in dottedlines. Fig. 3 is a detail.

A indicates the framework, consisting, es# sentially, of three parallelplates connected together by binding-rods similar to ordinaryclockframes.

B and B indicate two rollers adapted to carry a web O, which leads fromone roller to the other, passing over guide-rods b b and behind a glassset into an outer inclosing case, a part C of which is shown. This web Cwill contain the names of the various streets or stations in successionon a railway', or it may contain bits of information of any characterintended 'to be shown in succession. The shaft b of roller B is mountedto slide longitudinally in its bearings in the frame. One

end carries a pinion e and a disk e', havinga shoulder e2 upon itsperiphery. At the other end this shaft projects through the frame and isprovided with an annular groove e3. Roller B/ is similarly mounted inits bearings, its shaft being provided on one end with a pinionfanddiskf, having a shoulderfz, and on the other end, also projectingthrough the frame, an annular groovef3.

On one side of the apparatus is placed a spring-motor consisting of aspring-drum Gr and two trains of gearing g and g', both driven thereby.The last wheel of the train g (indicated by g2) is in a position to beengaged by the pinion e, while thelast wheel of the other train(indicated by g3) is in a position to be engaged by the pinion f. WVheuone pinion is iu engagement withits train, the other pinion is ont ofengagement with its train, and whichever train is operating determinesthe direction of movement of the web. On that end Aof, the apparatusopposite the motor is mounted ya rock-shaft 71 having an arm h', bymeans of which it can be rocked slightly. This shaft also vcarries adoubleended bar, one end t' of which engages with the annulargroove 'inshaft b by means of aforked end, while the other arm t" leads.

in the opposite direction and similarly engages with the annular groovein the shaft b2. The free end of thearm h has attached to it two cords7' and j', leading in opposite directions therefrom and over suitableguide-pulleys 7o and lc to points conveniently reached lformanipulation. Adjacent to the respective disks e and f are arranged twolevers Z and m, the former being pivoted at one extremity Z to theframe-plate and the latter being pivoted at an intermediate point m tothe frame-plate. The upper end of each lever carries a dog or detent o,(shown in Fig. 3,) adapted to engage with the shoulder of the diskopposite which it is placed. The lower end of lever m and anintermediate point of the lever l are connected together by ashiftingsbar p, which is arranged inside of the frame-plate, theconnection withthe two levers being by means of a pivot-pin passingthrough slightly-elongated openings in the frame-plate. A cord may beattached to the end of the shifting-bar so that it can be movedlongitudinally when desired, and a spring q, attached at one end totheframe-plate and bearing at the other end against the bar, returns thelatter after it has been manually moved.

The operation is as follows: By pulling on the cord fthe shaft b isthrown to the left ICO and the shaft b2 to the right, causing pinion eto engage with its train and pinionf to become disengaged. The motorthen rotates roller Bin a direction to wind up the web and display acertain sign at the window in front of the appara-tus. When the sign hasbecome centrally placed, the shoulder c2011 disk e engages with the dogon the end of lever Z and the rotation ceases. The sign remains in Viewas long as desired, and when a change is nec essary the shifting-bar pis pulled. This throws both dogs away from their respective disks, andthe shaft being released, the motor again rotates roller B in the samedirection and is again stopped after one complete rotation by theengagement of the dog, the same having been releas'ed and carried backinto position immediately after having been pulled. During these motionsthe shoulder on disk f does not engage with its dog because the rotationis not in the proper direction for engagement. Vhen all of the signshave thus been successively shown, or in fact at any 1 time during thepassage of the web from one roller to another, the direction of thestep-bystep motion can be changed. This is done by pulling on the cordj', which reverses the position of the armst' t" and throws pinion fintoengagement with its train and pinion e out of engagement. Then byoperating the shifting-bar p, as before described, the web is moved stepby step in the opposite direction. IfIence one motor is used formovements in both directions, and the apparatus is simple and easilycontrolled. Obviously other devices might be used to pull the variouscords or effect the various shifting movements, and my invention is nottherefore limited to the particular means described.

It is needless to mention the various uses to which a device of thiskind can be applied, but I may state that I contemplate using it as achart for purposes of instruction and as an advertising-machine fordisplaying pictures and other advertising matter.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In a movable sign apparatus,the combination of two rollers, a web adapted to be moved by the same, amotor, two trains of gearing driven thereby, devices adapted torespectively connect the rollers with the trains of gearing, a detentfor each roller and a single shifting device for both detents,substantially as described.

2. In a movable sign apparatus, the combination of two shafts movablelongitudinally, a pinion and a notched disk carried by each shaft, twolevers having dogs adapted to engage respectively with the notches inthe disks, a shifting-bar acting simultaneously on both levers, a motor,two trains of gearing driven by the motor and means for throwing one orthe other of the pinions into engagement with a corresponding train,substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I subscribe my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

ERNEST G. SCII WARZ.

Vitnesses:

FRANK S. OBER, WALDo M. CHAPIN.

